Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Another Busy Week

Hello Everybody!
 
This week has been really busy but went well.  At the beginning of this week I got to go on exchanges with the zone leaders and be in English work for a day.  We met a really interesting guy named Brad.  He knew the Bible really well but misquoted a lot of scriptures and doesn't really understand exactly what all the scriptures mean.  He told us he was confused about how he could find out if the Book of Mormon is true or not.  He doesn't believe that getting a spiritual confirmation/answer through the Holy Ghost would be good enough for him.  He thinks that God would give us a way that is a lot more sure to find out (ironically because he would deny an answer that God sends directly to him through the Holy Ghost).  He thinks the only way to find our if a book is true is by looking at all the prophecies the person who wrote it gave, and find out if they've all been fulfilled.  It was a really interesting lesson because the guy really wants to know if the Book of Mormon is true but he's stuck in his ways and doesn't understand the scriptures so won't do what he ought to do to find out for himself.
 
We found a couple really cool new investigators this week.  One's name is Lemuel.  He is a pastor at a church his dad founded called "The Church of Jesus Christ in the Americas".  When we found all this out and heard his name we were convinced that he was destined to get baptized and there was no way it could all be a coincidence.  He had questions about baptisms for the dead, how he could know if the Book of Mormon is true, and other questions about the Godhead.  He is only 23 and knows a lot but also misinterprets the scriptures and is confused about a couple things.  We're really excited to go back and teach him and see if he's willing to look to God for more understanding.  We also found a man named Jesus who (2 years ago) decided to start reading the Bible and living it's teachings and has a lot of faith.  He still feels like there's something missing in his life and we told him he could find that through the fullness of the gospel restored on the earth today.  We haven't taught him very much but his sister and her family have been to church twice and at least the kids really liked it.  We"ll see where that goes.
 
We got a call early in the morning this week from the mother of a recent convert who told us her daughter had been run over by a car the night before and had been in the hospital.  We rushed over there only to be greeted by an angry teenager who was really sore and didn't want us to be there.  It turned out that she had been hit by a car while crossing a cross walk and fell over and scraped her side and back but besides that she was fine.  We were relieved about all that.
 
The baptism of Jovita and Juan went really well.  Their son (who was baptized just under a year ago) flew in from Florida to baptize his mom and dad, and also confirm them the next day.  Jovita's sister also flew out from Florida, and her brother's family as well as her parents came to see everything.  There were a lot of people at the baptism and it went well.  The son didn't speak Spanish very well and had never baptized/confirmed anyone before so we spent a lot of time teaching him before the day of the baptism and also whispering the words to him while he was performing the ordinances.  Elder Guzman and Elder Mata came to see the baptism as well so it was good to see them again.  Juan and Jovita are really solid and it was a great weekend for them.
 
Saturday night we had a big ward activity talent show right after the baptism.  There was a lot of really good food there, and a lot of cool talents.  A lot of less active members and investigators came and it was a big success.  A lot of investigators came to church on Sunday as well.  For dinner we drove about an hour away into the "Lodi Hills" which are foothills of the mountains in California.  It looked a lot like Black Forest/Monument and reminded me of home.  It was also colder up there and a lot of fun to be out in nature.
 
I'll say a little bit more about my companion too.  Elder Martinez was born in Arizona but grew up in Puebla, Mexico until he was 14.  He is a really good soccer player and also a good runner.  He's a really funny guy and we get along really well.  His family has been members their whole lives.  He has been out on his mission about 15 months.  He studied business management at ASU before coming on his mission but will probably go to BYU afterwards.
That's all I've got for this week.  It's getting cooler here, hopefully it's not too cold out there.
 
Les Quiero,
-Elder Gaskill

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